Gaining Valuable Real-World Experience, Six Students Recount Their Summer Internships

Internships play a crucial role in the Jefferson experience. Six students across the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce share the real-world skills they gained this summer.

Textile product science student Maggie Robinson worked at Four Acres Living, a Delaware fiber product farm with over 30 alpacas. She tackled various projects that focus on sustainable and organic practices, including rag rug weaving with alpaca fiber, natural dye experiments with native plants grown on the property, skirting the alpacas’ fleece and beekeeping.

“Working so closely with the source of fiber and yarn allowed me to reimagine my place in the textile industry and how sustainability plays a part in textile production,” she says.

Fashion design student Elissa Lopez interned at Sesame Place, assisting the costume team with all the looks worn in the Pennsylvania theme park. She repaired, cleaned and maintained the costumes and completed a capstone to design and create a hypothetical costume for the park dancers.

Hailing from France, industrial and systems engineering student Jules Thibault interned in Paris at Saint-Gobain, a leader in sustainable construction materials. He worked as a supply chain data analyst for the company’s new low-carbon glass product line. Thibault used extensive data analysis to build a digital tool to support tactical production planning across Europe for this product.

“What’s most meaningful is the opportunity to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world industrial setting,” says Thibault, who plans to pursue his master’s. “It’s truly inspiring to be part of a company committed to sustainability while driving innovation in the industrial materials sector.”

Marketing student Samantha Fors interned at Veronique Gabai, a luxury fragrance brand that uses high-quality, ethically sourced ingredients.

As a marketing intern, Fors handled e-commerce, marketing and customer experience projects. For example, she researched aromatherapy’s effects on the body, created product content for e-commerce platforms, and helped the company gain sustainability and eco-conscious credibility with the software Provenance.

“I also participated in sales events at partner retailer stores, giving me hands-on experience with customer interactions and brand education and storytelling,” Fors says.

While on the owner solutions team at Subaru, finance student Raina Kalpesh Mehta focused on risk management and strategically resolving customer-facing issues. One project centered on analyzing case-level data to identify communication gaps, assess recurring patterns and trends, and evaluate the underlying root causes.

“The objective was to synthesize insights and provide evidence-based recommendations to enhance operational efficiency and risk mitigation,” Mehta says.

Visual communication design student Emma Prushan worked as an instructional graphic design intern at Anthropologie. Follow along as she shares a day on the job in this video below.